“I don’t think there was any substantive reason to remove Bruce Watson,” says Aaron J. Greenspan ’05, who wrote the letter to Hart complaining about Neugeboren’s lectures. “He got a remarkable ovation at the end of his teaching, which signaled to me that people appreciated the job he was doing.”

He adds that while Watson was “by far among the best” instructors he had had at Harvard and that students would benefit from him finishing the course, he does not plan on raising this with administrators.

One student in the course who spoke on condition of anonymity said he did write an e-mail to Hart requesting that Watson remain, but was told it was too late in the semester to make another change.

Hart said yesterday he had not heard of any negative reaction to Neugeboren’s return and does not plan any follow-up beyond the usual course evaluations.

“He is working hard. He had a chance to think a lot about his segment, which has just started,” Hart says. “I’m confident that we will complete the semester in a reasonable fashion.”

University President Lawrence H. Summers says he could not comment on this incident because he was not personally involved, that it does underscore general concerns he has about improving the quality of instruction across the College.

“I think the standard of teaching is good but it certainly could be better, and I think it’s important that there be very high standards set for teaching at Harvard College,” Summers says. “And certainly as we review the undergraduate curriculum, finding ways of ensuring the highest quality of teaching is something that will be very important.”